Parents would undoubtedly agree that caring for an infant is quite a formidable task. Proper caretaking requires a parent to devote much time, effort and attention to an infant's needs, particularly during the early stages of life. The activities and demands of every day life often make it necessary, or more convenient, for small children to accompany their parents during excursions such as shopping, traveling or work, to name only a few. A major concern for parents during these times is to provide a comfortable surrounding for the child. Even more importantly, these accommodations need to be safe so that the child is less susceptible to injury. Numerous safety guidelines have, in fact, been implemented to ensure the infant is properly protected during travel.
Various infant carriers on the market today provide both comfort and safety. These include car seats, strollers and swings, among others. A problem with these carrier devices is that they sometimes do not provide adequate cushioning support for newborn infants or young children who require external additional support because the neck muscles have not yet developed to the point where they, alone, can support the infant's head to maintain it in an upright position.
In an effort to resolve this problem, various infant head support devices have been developed for use in conjunction with infant carriers. These devices generally employ a quilted pad which is sized to accommodate the infant. This quilted pad includes a cushioned support pillow attached to it in an upper region for providing support for the infant's head. Typically, these support pillows are elongated members formed of a resilient foam or fiber material. Many of these devices also are equipped with a mechanism on the back of the pad for securing the support device to the seat against which the infant rests. This mechanism is helpful in preventing unnecessary movement of the support device during travel.
The infant support devices discussed above, while functional in their own right, do have some disadvantages. For instance, some of these products have a support pillow which tapers in width as it proceeds from the top of the infant's head toward the neck and shoulder region, thereby providing sufficient support only for the head region. As a result, there are unsupported areas around the neck and shoulder region. While other devices do not incorporate tapered support pillows, they still provide little support the infant's neck because they are not designed engage this area; thus, there is no restraint to prevent the neck from moving laterally. The unfortunate result of this can be injury to the child. Another major disadvantage of these products is their inability to accommodate for the size of the infant's head as the infant grows. Rather, these are one size fits all products with limited lifetimes of use.
Therefore, a need exists to provide an improved infant support article which is better adapted to stabilize the infant's head therein. It is also advantageous to provide a support article which is capable of providing a cushioned support for the neck and shoulder region of the infant to better maintain the infant's head in an upright and stable position. There is a further need for such a support article to be adjustable in order to accommodate the size of the infant head as he/she grows. The present invention is particularly concerned with addressing these needs and advantages.